Overview

sniper.gif pubg_map.jpg
Left: A skilled sniper taking out a moving target. Right: A PUBG map.

Motivation

Battle royale games have surged in popularity in recent years. The premise of such games is as follows: players are dropped onto a fictional island and fight to be the last person standing. As they roam around the island, they loot for weapons and items crucial for their survival. Players can choose to join a game as a solo player or with a group of friends (4 players maximum). When playing solo, players are immediately eliminated when they are killed. Players not only have to worry about getting killed by other players, but they also have to stay within the shrinking “safe zone,” which effectively forces players into contact with each other. Outside of the “safe zone,” players take damage to their health at increasing rates.

We are interested in building a prediction model for the popular battle royale game PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds). Given a set of player and match characteristics, how well can we predict each player’s end placement? Can we predict who is going to win the game?

Through our analysis, we aim to understand what characterizes the top finishers: How aggressive are their playing styles? Do players who travel farther on the map tend to place higher or lower? Answers to such questions will be of high interest for the PUBG gaming community.